U.S.
Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of Mississippi
188 East Capitol Street, Suite 500 601-965-4480
Jackson, Mississippi 39201 FTS 490-4480

FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune
4,
2008

Dunn Lampton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi,
and Robert
T. Oliveri, Resident Agent in Charge of the United States Fish & Wildlife
Service for Alabama,
Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, announced the arrest last night
of Darryl Eubanks of
George County, Mississippi, on federal charges relating to the illegal
killing of a Black Bear, a
protected species in Mississippi. Eubanks was arrested by agents with
the United States Fish &
Wildlife Service and Conservation Officers with the Mississippi Department
of Wildlife
Fisheries & Parks.

Darryl Eubanks was indicted on May 7, 2008, by a federal grand jury
in a four count
indictment. The indictment charges Eubanks with killing the Black Bear
in violation of the
Endangered Species Act, transporting the Black Bear in violation of the
Lacey Act, giving a
false statement to federal agents in connection to the investigation,
and obstruction of justice for
tampering with a material witness in a federal investigation. Eubanks
is scheduled to appear
today at 1:30 p.m. before United States Magistrate Mike Parker in Hattiesburg
for an
arraignment. If convicted, Eubanks could face up to one year in prison
and a $100,000 fine on each
count for illegally killing a Black Bear and for transporting the illegally
killed animal, and up to
five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count for giving a false
statement to a federal
agent and for obstruction of justice for tampering with a material witness.
The defendant is
presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

In 1932, Black Bears were given statewide protection in Mississippi
because there were
less than twelve Black Bears remaining in the state. In 1974, the Black
Bear was included on
Mississippi’s first list of rare and threatened animals. In 1992,
the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service declared the Mississippi Black Bear, a subspecies of
the Louisiana Black Bear,
as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

In January of 2008, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries
and Parks
(MDWFP) and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) received information
that a Black
Bear carcass had been found in Perry County, Mississippi. The MDWFP and
the USFWS
initiated a joint investigation. After conducting numerous interviews,
the investigators gathered
information and evidence leading to an indictment.

U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton commended the work of the federal and state
agents
involved in this case.

“This is yet another great example of teamwork by federal and
state
agents,” said Lampton. “It is important to all of us to protect
endangered and threatened species,
such as the Black Bears in Mississippi, and our office will vigorously
prosecute those who
illegally kill Black Bears or any other protected species.”

“Anyone involved in the illegal killing of Black Bears protected
by the Endangered
Species Act will be vigorously pursued by state and federal agents,” said
Robert T. Oliveri of the
USFWS.

For additional information, contact John Dowdy, Chief of the Criminal
Division of the
United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi,
at 601-965-4480.